‘‘Kid are you good ?’’

Tundra stared at David without saying anything for a moment. He concentrated on calming down his thoughts.

Okay, it’s gonna be okay… I’ll find the founders. I’m not giving up until I’ve gotten Olly back.

‘‘Yeah, sure, I’m good…’’

‘‘Okay, kid, listen…’’ the man interrupted them. ‘‘I’m really sorry about killing this guy. We’re from a larger group, we’ve got weapons and stuff… If you help us find the guy we’re looking for, we’ll help you get your brother out.’’

‘‘Maybe we have a deal… Who are you looking for ?’’

‘‘Our leader sent us to find his kid. Looks like you but 16 years old. Goes by the name Tundra… Do you know him ?’’

‘‘Oh shit…’’ Tundra groaned. ‘‘Yeah, I know him. But I won’t be helping you. He doesn’t want anything to do with his father.’’

The man pointed his gun at Tundra’s head.

‘‘Okay…’’ he said. ‘‘We don’t have to do this… You can just help us out and I’ll let you both go...’’

‘‘Fuck you. I’m not telling you shit.’’

‘‘Then I guess I’ll just shoot then.’’

‘‘Yeah, go ahead, see where that gets you.’’

He defiantly stared back at the man threatening him, seeming unafraid. The truth is he wasn’t but there was no way in Hell he’d let that asshole know that. Tension was rising. The man cocked his gun.

‘‘Last chance…’’

‘‘No, no no no ! Don’t shoot him !’’ David finally lost his cool. ‘‘If you shoot him you’ll never find the kid you’re looking for. You need him alive !’’

‘‘David, shut up. This doesn’t concern you.’’

‘‘Both of you shut up !’’ the girl said. ‘‘I’m giving you five seconds to tell us what you know. If you don’t my buddy will shoot. Ready ? 1 !’’

Tundra looked around, looking for an escape plan. He wasn’t going to let these two losers drag him to his father. Nope. Not happening.

‘‘2 !’’

He couldn’t think of anything. There was sweat stinging his eyes but he didn’t dare wipe it away.’’

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘‘3 !’’ the girl said, sounding tired of this.

He decided his best bet was to try ducking under the man’s gun to attack just before he shot him. He got ready to jump forward.

‘‘4 !’’

‘‘Don’t shoot him ! He’s the kid you’re looking for !’’ David shouted. ‘‘You wouldn’t want to kill your boss’s kid, now, would you ?!’’

‘‘Dude…’’ Tundra looked at David, disappointed. ‘‘Why the fuck would you tell them that ?!’’

‘‘Okay then, kid, you’re coming with us.’’

Tundra’s eyes flickered from the group, to Noche, to the space between the two. Then he grabbed the cat and bolted down the street as fast as he could. It meowed in protest.

‘‘I’m not going anywhere with you fuckers !’’

He could hear footsteps running behind him. He didn’t slow to look back. He ran at random, unsure where he was going, until he could no longer hear anyone behind him. Only then did he dare to stop and look. There was no one. He put the cat back down and let himself slump down onto the ground against a wall. His heart was beating so fast it was painful. He tried to calm himself down. They wouldn’t find him again. He just needed to be discreet, like he would have been anyway, hide in the sewers or random buildings, investigate the Founders from the shadows.

When his heart was back under control, he stood up, pet Noche to apologise about picking him up and running like that, and started walking again. It was getting dark, so he soon went into a random building, climbed to the very top, and broke into an apartment. The cat followed.

He closed the door and pushed a table in the way so if some rando showed up it would at least be difficult for them to get in. Then he went through any container he found, looking for anything useful. He only had his knife and the clothes he was wearing. The rest had stayed in the sewers when he had run away. He would have to go back for it later. In the meantime, he could rely on the food he found.

He fed the cat then sat down and started writing a list of everything he needed to do now. It was starting to seem like a lot, but he could handle it. Probably.

Get pack back. Avoid father’s people. Avoid weird dude who wants to help. Find a Founder to interrogate. Save Olly.

He sat down next to the window and looked out, but it had gotten even darker now and he couldn’t make anything out. There were the lights of a fire somewhere in the distance but it was nothing he needed to worry about, at least for now. The night was eerily silent.

He woke up with a start. He hadn’t even noticed that he’d fallen asleep. There were infected shrieks and gunshots somewhere near. A man yelled. He looked out the window and still couldn’t make out much but he figured he was probably safe. He held on to his knife just in case, even though it was mostly useless if a thing a guy with a gun showed up.Noche was hissing at the noise, his fur all spiked up in fear. Tundra tried to calm him down by petting him and whispering stuff.

That’s when the man yelled again and he had a horrible doubt. Did he recognise that voice, or was he just making connections ? He did that all the time, thinking he recognised a person’s voice and it actually wasn’t them. Well honestly he was just bad at recognising people in general. But… maybe ?

‘‘Noche, do you recognise that voice ?’’

Silence.

‘‘I don’t know why I’m asking you. I don’t know how you’re supposed to answer… But… Noche I think that’s the weird dude who wanted to stick with us for some reason… What if I go out to help and it’s not him and I got myself in danger for nothing ? And at the same time, what if it is him and I do nothing and he dies ?’’

Again, no answer.

‘‘You’re right, I shouldn’t care what happens to him. I don’t know him. If anything, it’s his fault Damian got shot. If he had just taken a different turn, those guys wouldn’t have found us and I would have answers by now.’’

Still, the cat didn’t magically start talking.

‘‘Ah, Goddamnit ! Kitty, you stay here !’’